BANGALORE, India (AP) England captain Joe Root went unsold on the opening day of the Indian Premier League player auction on Saturday while allrounder Ben Stokes again proved popular despite his ongoing court case.
The chief executive of the Rajasthan Royals, Ranjit Barthakur, described Stokes as ''a fantastic performer, a cricketer of today and a cricketer of the future,'' after buying him for $1.95 million for the IPL Twenty20 tournament.
Stokes last year became the most expensive overseas player in the competition's history when he signed a $2.4 million deal with Rising Pune Supergiant before going on to claim the most valuable player award.
He was again listed as one of the 16 marquee players this time around despite the England star being due to appear at Bristol Magistrates' Court on Feb. 13 having been charged with affray. The IPL had guaranteed he can be replaced but only if he is ruled out for the whole tournament.
Root was one of three big names to go unsold during the early rounds of bidding, alongside West Indies opener Chris Gayle and South Africa's Hashim Amla.
Sunrisers Hyderabad had to use its Right To Match (RTM) card in retaining Shikhar Dhawan for nearly $312,500 after Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai Indians and Rajashtan Royals also showed interest in the hard-hitting India opener.
India offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin was the day's first million-dollar-plus player after he was bought by Kings XI Punjab for $1.18 million.
KL Rahul and Manish Pandey were the most expensive Indian players to be sold. Rahul was bought for $1.7 million by Kings XI Punjab, which also used RTM to retain South Africa's David Miller ($468,000) and bought Australia ODI opener Aaron Finch ($968,000).
Pandey was snapped up by Sunrisers Hyderabad for $1.7 million after Kings XI also showed interest before bowing out when the bidding crossed the million-dollar mark.
Mumbai Indians also used RTM to retain Keiron Pollard for $843,750 as Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab bid for the West Indian allrounder.
Chennai Super Kings and Rajashtan Royals used RTMs to buy back South Africa's Faf du Plessis ($250,000) and India batsman Ajinkya Rahana ($625,000) respectively.
Kings XI did not use their RTM in retaining its former captain Glenn Maxwell, after Delhi Daredevils bought the Australian allrounder for $1.4 million.
Offspinner Harbhajan Singh, a veteran for Mumbai Indians, attracted only one bid and was sold for $312,000 to Chennai Super Kings.
Kolkata Knight Riders' captain Gautam Gambhir returned to his hometown team of Delhi Daredevils for $437,000. Yuvraj Singh also went back to his hometown side Kings XI Punjab for $312,000 after Sunrisers Hyderabad didn't go for its RTM on the India allrounder.
Daredevils coach Ricky Ponting hinted that Gambhir could lead the side.
''He (Gambhir) sort of conveyed that he would like to come back to Delhi and hopefully lead the team,'' Ponting said. ''It's pretty hard to fault his leadership credentials. We felt that little bit of experience would help. I am sure Gautam would do a good job for us.''
In the allrounders' category, Kedar Jadhav was the third highest paid Indian of the day when Chennai Super Kings bought him for $1.2 million while Kings XI Punjab retained Australian Marcus Stoinis for $968,000.
Kolkata Knight Riders bought two expensive wicketkeepers, paying $1.16 million for Dinesh Karthik and another $1 million to retain Robin Uthappa through their RTM card.
Sanju Samson was the most expensive in the wicketkeepers' category as he went to Royals for $1.25 million.
There were several star bowlers who also went unsold on day one of the auction, including Lasith Malinga, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell McClenaghan and Tim Southee. Twenty20's top-ranked bowler, New Zealand's Ish Sodhi, also could not attract any of the IPL franchises.
Afghanistan legspinner Rashid Khan nearly doubled his base price when Kings XI Punjab offered $1.4 million but Sunrisers Hyderabad snapped its star legspinner through RTM. West Indies legspinner Samuel Badree, who claimed a hat trick in last year's tournament, went unsold.
